video features

TPT Minnesota original feature

The Christmas Truce of 1914 in the midst of World War I is a captivating historical event that has inexplicably avoided becoming common knowledge. When Peter Rothstein, Artistic Director of Theater Latté Da, first heard how the Allied Forces and German soldiers laid down their weapons to sing Christmas carols across the trenches, he knew there was a theatrical production just waiting to be brought to life. Rothstein heavily researched the truce and approached Erick Lichte and Timothy C. Takach of Cantus, a renowned Minnesota male vocal ensemble, to work on the project with him. In 2007, All is Calm premiered, featuring Cantus playing a cast of soldiers in a variety of dialects, retelling the tale of the truce with excerpts from war journals and letters home all intertwined with Christmas carols. This simple, evocative production has become a holiday staple in the Twin Cities.

The All is calm trailer

The Western Front. Christmas. 1914. Out of the violence comes a silence, then a song. A German solider steps into No Man’s Land Singing “Stille Nacht.” Thus begins an extraordinary night of camaraderie, music and peace. This moving piece recreates an astounding moment in history when Allied and German soldiers laid down their arms to celebrate the holiday together by trading carols, sharing food and drink, playing soccer and burying the dead. In some places the truce lasted only a night, in others it endured until New Year’s Day.